Linda Perry Disses Katy Perry — Oh No She Didn’t!

Becky Bain | August 18, 2011 4:51 pm

And she was having such a good week! Katy Perry might have cinched the record for most #1 singles from the same album, but she still has yet to convince some people of her pop prowess. Linda Perry (former lead singer of 4 Non Blondes, and songwriter of tunes for Pink, Christina Aguilera and Gwen Stefani, to name a few) didn’t hesitate to insult Katy’s album during a recent interview, calling it “crap.”

The singer-songwriter was being interviewed backstage at the Ford Amphitheater in Hollywood when she was asked about the state of the music industry. She begins her answer by saying that although she’s not an Adele fan, she has respect towards the British singer’s massively popular 21. “It’s a solid record, and it’s selling,” she says.

But things get nastier when she compares it to the current chart queen, Katy Perry. “Like, who wants a fucking Katy Perry record?” she said to interviewer Heath Daniels. “I’m sorry. You know, you’re gonna get the two songs that are probably the hits that are good, but the rest of the album is gonna be crap. It is, it’s gonna sound like shit and who cares about buying that record? So people download the single and then that’s it.”

She backpeddaled a bit as she continued: “I’m not saying that Katy’s bad, I mean she’s great for what she does, but she’s not reinventing the wheel, she’s not giving substance, she’s giving you know microwave popcorn for you to feast on right at this moment, you know. And that’s it.”

“And that’s what she wants to do obviously. She’s not looking to change the world musically… so all the power to her and everybody who is like that. I’m not saying it’s bad, I’m saying it’s not what I participate in and that is the reason why the music business is in turmoil, so to say.”

To answer her question: lots of people want a Katy Perry record. Lots and lots and lots.We personally gave her album a glowing review, and though not every track is as memorable as the last, the majority of it is delicious fun. It’s certainly worth buying the album as a whole to discover the seven other songs that didn’t get the single treatment. (And truth be told, if some of those tracks did become singles, there’s no telling that they wouldn’t be as successful as her others.)

And if you think Katy is only about euphemisms and cotton candy, take a listen to the evocative ballad “Not Like The Movies” and try to tell us again that this woman has no substance.

Which Perry are you siding with? Do you think Linda has a point? Tell us below.